Title: Jade Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Author: Queen Serenity

Fandom: Harry Potter

Chapter: Five – Werecats and Wizards and Trains, Oh My!

The next day was Jade's birthday, and when she came downstairs for breakfast she carried the little kitten in her now-empty backpack. Petunia and Vernon agreed to allow her to keep the kitten, so long as it went with her to Hogwarts.

The day was fun. They spent it going to many of Jade's favorite places, and eating at her favorite seafood restaurant. When no one was looking, Jade broke up a couple of small shrimp from her plate and dropped them into her backpack for the kitten. She wasn't sure if it could eat solids yet, but if it could, she knew it'd like the treats.

For gifts, Jade received assorted jewelry, along with a bunch of hair accessories and some of her favorite tunic-type shirts like the one she'd worn the day she'd gone to Diagon Alley. She was also given a new diary (a dark green leather-bound one) and an empty scrapbook for her to use at her new school. Another present they'd bought her was a large trunk, one which was bronze and, true to Jade's favorite color, green. Lastly, they'd bought her a new cell phone. (Jade knew she couldn't use it in Hogwarts… maybe she'd figure something out, though.) The presents seemed a little less than usual, but Jade didn't mind. She was just glad to be able to spend the day with her family.

There was only a month left until she would be leaving, and Jade was spending as much time with her family as possible. She hung out with Dudley each day, even tolerating his jerk friends, resolving privately that she'd simply turn Piers into a rat as soon as she was able if he bugged her again. Wherever she went, the backpack containing the kitten went with her.

About a week after Jade's birthday, the kitten, which was a female, opened its eyes, startling Jade. The reason she was so startled was that because instead of the usual baby blue that most little kittens have, this particular one had red eyes! It was truly creepy, but kinda cool, too. She was pretty sure that she'd never heard of a cat having red eyes.

And that wasn't the only surprise. As soon as the cat's crimson eyes fixed on her, Jade heard someone call her name.

Jade.

"What?" Jade looked around her room for the source of the mellow female voice she'd heard. "Who's there?"

Thank you, Jade. You saved me.

The kitten was still looking at Jade, who was looking confused. Comprehension dawned on her face slowly and she turned to look down at the kitten which sat beside her on the bed. "Don't tell me it was–"

Yes. It was I who spoke. My mother and I were both illegally captured by a poacher, who had been sitting in that pub where you ate. As the poacher ate, he had the cage covered and sitting under the table… we would have escaped the usual way of our kind, but the cage was enchanted to prevent that. However, because of my small size my mother managed to get me through the bars. I only happened to come across your backpack, and hid there, sensing your good aura. In taking me from that place, and then nursing me afterwards, you saved me.

Jade was, needless to say, taken aback. "You're welcome that I saved you, kitten, but what are you? It's obvious that you are not just a simple cat…"

The kitten's eyes widened in what could only be surprise. You know not what I am? But you are a witch, are you not? I know I sensed magic in you… powerful magic.

Jade shrugged, blushing slightly. "I'm a witch… well, sort of. I haven't even been to the school yet, and I know little of the magical world, since I was raised by my Muggle family. Surely you must have seen that they were Muggles."

So I saw. Then I shall forgive your ignorance. I am what is called a werecat, and my name is Solluna. The kitten stretched, then sat down, tucking her paws under her breast, and closed her eyes as she purred slightly.

"A werecat…" Jade paused, thinking. "Is that kind of like a werewolf?"

Solluna opened her eyes again. No, not really. The only semblance is that werecats, too, have the ability to change form… Suddenly as Jade looked at the cat her vision seemed to blur and she blinked to clear it. When she blinked, however, she found a small girl that seemed to be about four or five with shaggy black hair grinning at her. The girl had slanted eyes with red irises, pointed ears, and when she grinned, Jade could see pointed teeth glinting at her. See? A moment later the kitten was back, in the same position she had been in before, purring once more.

Jade gawked. "Wow, that's magnificent!" She paused, letting this all sink in, then asked, a bit curious, "So what are you going to do now, Solluna?"

Solluna opened one red eye slightly to look at her. What do you mean?

Jade shrugged. "I mean do you want to go with me to Hogwarts, or do you want to go somewhere else, or what? Nothing's holding you to me, you don't have to stay if you don't want to… seeing as how you're intelligent and all, it's not really up to me if I take you to Hogwarts."

Solluna closed the eye again, and flicked the tip of her tail slightly. As I said, Jade, I sense powerful magick in you… My kind have the ability to see things which others may not. We see what may be. It is part of the reason that we are so sought after by poachers… our eyes are especially valuable to them. I can see that you are destined for certain things, and certain hard choices, and it makes me curious. I think I shall stay with you, if you'll permit it.

Jade nodded. "Of course."

And now, in partial payment for saving my life, I shall give you a warning, Jade.

Beware the professor who is not as it seems

Beware the weakened but hidden being

With true friends by your side, you'll have nothing to fear

If you're true to your nature when in front of the mirror…

Jade's brow furrowed. She took out a piece of paper and asked Solluna to repeat what she'd said, and the kitten complied. Scribbling down the words, Jade stared at them, then back at the cat. "What do you mean? Which professor? What being?"

The cat only purred louder. I have said all I have to say.

Once Jade's family had seen Solluna's eyes, they were seriously crept out. Jade had went ahead and explained that Solluna wasn't just some ordinary cat. None of them had heard Solluna 'talk', and Solluna had explained to Jade that she wouldn't speak to just anyone; a person had to draw her curiosity or earn her respect first.

Over the next three weeks, as September 1st drew nearer, Solluna grew up quickly to be a bit larger than the average tomcat… Her body was lean, with powerful shoulders and oversized paws. A shaggy silvery mane grew to surround her angular face, and her ears and tail were tufted in silvery fur. Her main incisors had grown greatly and now the two white fangs curved down over her jaw. She was beautiful to Jade, and kept on traveling in Jade's backpack, but Jade's family really did not like this cat, which, to them, looked just plain creepy.

As for Jade's owl… well, she let Athena out of her cage often, and the owl flew in and out of the window as she pleased. She kept bringing back dead mice for Jade as gifts, which kinda grossed Jade out, but Solluna was more than happy to get rid of that problem. It came that the werecat depended on the owl for her food, since she found the cat kibble that Jade had been buying distasteful. The owl was smart enough to realize that in exchange for the mice, Solluna would continue to leave her alone.

On the last day of August Jade reminded her aunt and uncle that tomorrow was the day she'd be leaving, since she would obviously need a ride to the station…

When she showed them the ticket, they looked at the listed platform strangely. Jade assured them that she'd figure it out… it couldn't be that hard.

The next day, Jade woke up very early as she had on the day she'd went with Professor Snape. Again, it felt like Christmas to her… she was just so excited!

She made sure that everything was packed, secured Athena in her cage, and opened up her backpack so that Solluna could climb inside. The cat liked traveling inside the bag, as long as she wasn't jolted, because then she could listen in to things going on.

A couple of hours later, she went downstairs, fully dressed and backpack over her shoulder, to find Petunia cooking breakfast and Vernon and Dudley sitting at the table. Petunia smiled when Jade came in. "Good morning, Jade. Could you take over for me for a bit? I just need to borrow this for a moment…" And so she took a surprised Jade's backpack from her shoulder and left the room, Vernon following her.

When both adults had left the room, Jade went over to tend the bacon and eggs, Dudley watching her. Dudley grinned, able to tell that his cousin was excited, and perhaps a bit nervous.'

"Are you excited, Jade? I bet you they'll teach you all kinds of cool stuff there…"

"Mmm hmm…" Jade replied absentmindedly. She was wondering what the adults had wanted her cat for…

Meanwhile, once they had gotten into the living room, Petunia set the backpack on the chair. A moment later, a werecat's head poked out of the bag to watch them curiously with its seemingly all-knowing eyes.

Petunia bit her lip, feeling silly talking to an animal, even one so strange-looking as this one. She spoke in a low voice. "Listen, cat… err… Solluna. Jade tells us that you're as intelligent as a human, perhaps even more so… So we have a favor to ask you… If you do it, we'll give you your favorite fish when you get back… all that you want."

Solluna cocked her head. What did these Muggles want?

"Well… as you may know, we are very very worried about Jade, what with her going off to this school. So, please, could you at least watch out for her?"

Vernon spoke now, gritting his teeth. "I swear, you mangy feline, if you let anything happen to her, I'll-" He was interrupted as Petunia's hand covered his mouth. She looked apologetically at the bemused werecat. "Sorry about that. He doesn't know what he's saying; he's just so worried about our Jade. Anyway, could you? Please?"

The werecat looked backed and forth between the two humans and then, after a moment, she nodded her head in ascent before slipping back into the backpack without a word.

Vernon and Petunia looked at each other; this was all which they could do, really. They made their return to the kitchen, Petunia with the backpack in hand, to curious looks from both Jade and Dudley. Without a word, Petunia set the backpack down by Jade, who proceeded to pass a piece of bacon to the cat inside.

They arrived at the train station around half past ten o'clock. Jade's family wanted to wait with her, but she shooed them back towards the car, saying she'd be fine; there was no use in prolonging the goodbyes… she could already see the tears shining in Petunia's eyes, even as they pulled away.

Jade looked at the platform to her left, number nine. Nothing unusual. Then towards platform ten. Nothing there, either. Then she looked directly ahead of her, where the platform she was to go to should be. She pursed her lips, her brow creasing as she frowned slightly. All that was there was the dividing barrier between nine and ten.

"Where's the platform, Solluna?" she asked, feeling as though she couldn't breathe as fear of missing the train grew inside her.

She felt the werecat shift slightly in the bag on her back. How should I know?

She stood there for a minute, thinking, before smiling again. Surely there would be other kids coming… she couldn't be the last to arrive, since it wasn't that late. When they arrived, she'd simply see where they went.

She waited for about fifteen minutes, and was starting to get only slightly nervous when she happened to overhear what the people behind her were saying.

" – packed with Muggles, of course – "

Jade turned quickly, knowing that these people were exactly what she was waiting for; surely it was a real Wizarding family! The person whom she heard speaking was a plump woman who was talking to fours boys, all with flaming red hair. Each boy had a trunk similar to Jade's with him, and they had an owl! It seemed she was right; if this wasn't a Wizarding family, then she was the Queen of England! And she wasn't!

As the family moved, Jade followed, pushing her cart after them. When they stopped, she heard the little girl holding the woman's hand asking her mother why she couldn't go. From the mother's answer, it seemed that the girl, who turned out to be named Ginny, was too young to go yet.

"Alright, Percy, you go first."

As Jade watched, the oldest boy walked forward with his trunk toward the barrier between the platforms. Just as the boy reached it, a swarm of tourists blocked Jade's view of the boy, but she hadn't needed to see what happened. She had a feeling now what she had to do… the barrier there was probably sort of just an invisible wall, one that you could walk through only if you knew you could. She'd bet her computer that the platform she wanted lay behind that wall.

Now, as she watched, the next two brothers, twins, went through, one at a time. From watching them interact with their mother, Jade could easily tell that these two, whose names were Fred and George, were big jokesters. Watching the two, she could see that her guess was confirmed; they simply walked through the wall there.

But she'd better make sure…

"Umm… excuse me, Ma'am?"

The woman turned to Jade, giving her a cheery smile. "Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."

She pointed at the last and obviously youngest of her sons. The boy was tall, thin, and gangly, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose. The boy was gawking slightly at Jade; she shifted uncomfortably. Did she stand out that much?

"Yes," she said, and had to clear her throat. "I was just watching your other sons go through… and I was wondering…"

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Jade nodded, blushing. "Yeah, it seems that they just walked through… is that all there is to it?"

The woman nodded. "Exactly, dear. If you're nervous, best do it at a run. Go ahead, go now before Ron."

Jade walked instead of ran toward the barrier, since it would actually make her more nervous to run at it, since her instincts told her that there was nothing but solid wall there. Just before she reached the wall, she closed her eyes, trying not to think of crashing…

And she didn't crash. After a moment, she opened her eyes.

A scarlet steam engine met her eyes. The platform she'd been looking for was here, and boy was it packed with people. A sign confirmed that this was what she'd been trying to find.

Looking around at the bustling crowd, seeing cats of all colors shooting here and there, hearing the owls hooting, Jade felt a great ball of excitement and happiness welling up deep inside her. Pushing her cart, looking for a place to sit, Jade passed a round-faced boy who seemed to have lost his toad again. Listening to the old woman, Jade heard that the boy's name was Neville.

Another boy she passed, one with dreadlocks, was showing off a pet in the box he held, a pet that poked a long, hairy leg out of the box.

Eventually, she found an empty compartment towards the end of the train. Jade put Athena inside first, and set her backpack containing Solluna on the seat. She then started to try to lug her trunk up the steps, but dropped it on her foot and swore. "Bloody hell!"

"Want a hand?"

Jade turned to see the source of the male voice, one of the red-headed twins she'd seen earlier.

She gulped, taking a moment to catch her breath before answering. "Yes, please."

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"

With the twins' help, Jade's trunk was, after some effort, tucked away into a corner of the compartment.

"Thank you," she said, pushing her hair away from her moist forehead.

"What's that?" said one of the twins all of a sudden, pointing at Jade's scar.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you –?"

"She is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Jade.

Jade grinned, remembering what she'd been told about people knowing of her. "Jade Lily Potter," she said, winking.

Both boys gawked at her, and Jade felt herself blush. She'd definitely have to get used to people staring at her.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom."

With a last awed glance at Jade, the twins left the compartment.

Sitting down, Jade let Solluna out her backpack, who settled down comfortably on the back of Jade's seat, tucking her paws under her and closing her eyes. She then took out a book she had with her, Hogwarts, a History, which she'd been reading for the past week.

Before she could get into her book, though, Jade could overhear the red-headed family outside chatting. The mother was fussing over the youngest brother, who was obviously getting embarrassed and annoyed, and from what Jade could hear, it seemed that the older brother had been made something called a prefect, whatever the heck that was. As she listened, Jade chuckled when she heard the mother telling the twins not to blow up toilets and stuff… it seemed the two were total clowns. She'd be willing to bet that if she was around them much, they'd be giving her quite a few laughs.

She also heard the twins telling their family about who she was. It really seemed that it hadn't been an exaggeration about her fame. As the boys left to get on the train, she heard them tell their crying younger sister, to their mother's horror, that they'd send her a toilet seat. Oh, yeah, these guys were worth a ton of laughs.

A minute later, the compartment door slid open and the boy named Ron came in.

"Mind if I sit there?" the boy asked, pointing at the seat across from Jade. "There's nowhere else to sit."

Jade didn't look up from her book as she answered. "I don't mind at all, go ahead." When the boy sat down, Jade saw him glance at her out of the corner of her eyes.

"Hey, Ron."

The twins were back. One of them told Ron that they were going down to see Lee Jordan's – that must have been the name of the boy with the dreadlocks – giant tarantula.

"Jade," said the other twin, "I don't think we introduced ourselves. Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."

Jade looked up to bid them goodbye, then went back to reading.

A thick silence filled the compartment for a few moments as Jade read and she could feel Ron staring at her.

He has to blink sometime. Solluna had obviously opened her eyes slightly to see Ron staring at her mistress.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." Closing her book with a sigh, Jade looked up to see that Ron's face had taken on a look like he thought Jade was crazy. She gave him a weird look. "What?"

"Who were you just talking to? I didn't say anything…" Ron looked baffled.

"Oh!" Jade laughed, the jabbed a thumb at the relaxing black werecat behind her head. Ron must not have noticed her because her black fur blended in with Jade's own black hair.

"Oh." Ron looked at Solluna, then jumped as he took a second look. "OH! Blimey, is that a cat!"

A low growl filled the compartment, coming from Solluna. Jade laughed and reached back to pat the werecat. "She's not a cat, she's a werecat." She paused for a moment, as though listening to something, before continuing, "she says that she'll forgive you just this once, but if you call her an ordinary cat ever again, she'll scar you for life. Her name's Solluna, by the way."

Ron gulped, seeing the red eyes staring at him, and seeing the long sharp incisors, too. "No offense meant, but she's creepy-looking. Can you please ask her to stop staring?"

After a moment of Jade listening to Solluna again, she answered. "She says that speaking of how people look, you've got a black smudge on your nose, and she also says that she's staring at you no more than you were staring at me." The cat's eyes closed once more, and Jade continued, "Anyway, why were you staring at me?"

It took Ron a moment to answer. "Are you really Jade Potter?" He blurted.

Jade nodded and, before Ron could ask, she lifted her bangs to show her scar.

"So that's where You-Know-Who –?"

"Uh huh," said Jade, "but I can only remember it slightly.

"Slightly?" Ron asked, an eager look upon his face.

"Well… I just remember a bright green flash, but that's all."

"Wow," said Ron. As Jade went back to reading her book, she could feel Ron staring at her again, but pushed back at the annoyance nagging at her. The only kid who'd found out her identity who hadn't stared so far had been that boy she'd met before, Draco Malfoy.

After a few minutes, getting sick of Ron staring at her as she read, Jade spoke, not taking her eyes off the book. "Is your whole family wizards, Ron?"

"Yeah, pretty much," said Ron.

"So you must know lots of magic already."

"I heard you were sent to live with some Muggle relatives of yours. What are they like?"

"They're nice enough." Jade set down her book in her lap and took a picture from the pocket of her backpack. "This is them. See? That's Aunt Petunia, that's Uncle Vernon, and that there is my cousin, Dudley."

Ron gave the picture a weird look. "What's wrong with your picture? Why aren't they moving?"

Jade gave a surprised look. "What do you mean? Pictures don't move."

"Ours do."

Figuring she'd see what he meant later, Jade put the picture back and changed the subject. "So what's it like having three wizard brothers?"

"Five, actually," corrected Ron. For some reason, he looked gloomy about it. He proceeded to tell her about all five of his brothers. Bill and Charlie, who no longer lived at home, but had both been successful at school in their own ways, Percy, who was the smart, goody-two-shoes one, and Fred and George, who were smart and funny troublemakers. It was no wonder Ron was so miserable, since he was in the shadow of not just one, but five brothers! "…You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. He gave Solluna, whose eyes had opened to narrow menacingly at Scabbers, a worried look. "She won't bother him, will she?"

"Not if you ask her nicely not to."

Ron did so, then continued. "Anyway, his name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff – I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron looked embarrassed, like he thought he'd said too much, and went back to staring out the window.

Jade's brow furrowed. It was no big deal if Ron's family was poor, there was nothing wrong with that. Just like it doesn't matter where you're from. All that matters is who you yourself are, and how you and your family treat each other. Even is you have all the money in the world, if you don't have love, then you don't have anything… That's how Jade felt, and that's exactly what she told Ron. This seemed to cheer him up, though he still looked a bit embarrassed. Jade told Ron some more about herself, but when she mentioned Voldemort's name offhand, Ron gasped.

"What?" Jade asked. "It's no big deal. I know, of all people, how scary that man was, especially since he killed my parents, but I see NO bloody reason to be scared of a name. That's bloody stupid, is what that is."

Ron looked abashed, and they were silent for a bit, Jade going back to reading her book.

About half past noon a snack cart came. The woman pushing it smiled at them. "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Since she'd barely been able to eat anything this morning because of her excitement, Jade was starving now, and she got to her feet. Ron, however, turned a bit red and muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Jade went out into the corridor and a look of delight came over her face when she saw the cart; she recognized none of this stuff… it must be wizard candy! It all looked so delicious, and she wanted to not miss out on a bit of it, so she went ahead and got some of everything, paying for it with some of her new wizarding currency.

When Jade lugged it all back into the compartment, she caught Ron staring. He laughed.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," said Jade, looking at it all and trying to decide what to try first. Deciding on a Cauldron Cake, she picked one up and bit into the sweet treat. Behind her, Solluna let out a mental chuckle before speaking. If you eat all of that yourself, Jade, you're going to blow up like you're having an allergic reaction.

Jade turned slightly to her cat, and swallowed the bite she'd been chewing. "You're right."

She looked at Ron, who was frowning at the sandwich in his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" He looked up. "Oh, she always forgets I don't like corned beef…"

Jade laughed. "Well, Solluna here says that if I eat all this myself I'll get fat, and she's right… so help me out, would you?"

Ron looked unsure. Jade rolled her eyes. "Go on, have some… please?"

Once Ron had dug in, Jade held up a package she'd been curious about. "I just wanna make sure… these Chocolate Frogs don't have real frogs in them, do they?"

"Naw," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"Huh?"

Ron explained to Jade about Wizard Cards. When she unwrapped her card and saw the name under the picture, she gasped.

"Hey! This is the guy who sent me my letter… the Hogwarts Headmaster!"

Together, Ron and Jade made there way through most of the candy. The rest, which was mostly smaller stuff that was left, Jade put in the pocket of her backpack.

Not much later, the compartment door slid open. A girl with bushy brown hair poked her head in. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. Her observant eyes widened when they fell upon Solluna. "Wow! Is that a real werecat? I read that they're really rare. I didn't even know that they could be kept as pets."

Jade giggled. "She's not my pet, she's my friend and familiar, and her name's Solluna."

"Well, she's beautiful." At these words, Solluna started preening herself, obviously pleased with the compliment.

Jade stood. "We haven't seen the toad, but I'd be happy to help look for him." She turned to Solluna. "You coming?"

Nodding her head, Solluna leapt nimbly up into Jade's arms.

The bushy haired girl suddenly seemed to remember something. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Hermione Granger."

"Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

Jade grinned. "And I'm Jade Lily Potter, but you can just call me Jade."

"Wow, are you really?" asked Hermione. "I've read all about you, in all kinds of books!"

"Really?" Jade asked. "I knew that I was well-known, but not enough to be in books!"

"Well, we had better get looking for Neville's toad."

"Uh huh."

The two girls split up to look. In one compartment, Jade saw the twins and the boy with the dreadlocks fiddling around with a tarantula, but none of them had seen Neville's toad.

In another compartment, Jade came across a familiar face. "Draco!" She said, "so we meet again."

Draco gave an arrogant grin. "So we do." His eyes widened when he saw Solluna. "Is that a werecat?"

"Uh huh, and her name's Solluna. I helped her out as a kitten and she's been with me since… By the way, Draco, have you seen a toad? There's one hopping around somewhere around here…"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I've already told Longbottom that I haven't seen his stupid toad. Why are you helping him, anyway?"

Jade shrugged. "Why not? I wasn't really that busy, and the boy needed help. Nothing's wrong with that." She eyed his companions, two hulking boys that reminded her too much of Dudley's idiot friends. She knew the type; lackeys. The two combined probably had an IQ of maybe 42. If that.

Draco noticed her looking at them. "Jade, allow me to introduce you to my companions, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. You can just call them Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe, Goyle, meet the famed Jade Potter."

"Uh, yeah, um… hi." Jade said. Crabbe, who for some reason had his hands together in his lap, croaked in reply. Or at least it came from his direction. Jade narrowed her eyes. "What was that?"

"Umm… I cleared my throat," said Crabbe, sounding quite stupid.

Jade was skeptical. "Uh huh." Solluna leapt nimbly down from Jade's arms to the floor of the compartment. Extending her claws, she swiped Crabbe's closed hands, leaving two bloody trails. Crabbe yelped and opened his hands, releasing an extremely terrified toad, which Jade quickly caught before it leapt away. She chuckled. "My friend here doesn't like it when people lie to me." She then turned to Draco, frowning. "You know, that wasn't very nice, Draco. I don't like it when people lie to me, either."

Draco shrugged, looking nonchalant. "Longbottom shouldn't have lost it in the first place. If it hadn't hopped in here, we wouldn't have got it, now would we?"

Jade shook her head. "Whatever. I'd better return this."

Draco stood. "As a way of apologizing, let me walk you there and back to your own compartment."

"That'd be nice." Jade looked at the toad in her hands, then at Solluna, then at Draco. "If you're coming with me, you may as well make yourself useful. You can either carry Neville's toad here, or you can carry Solluna. It's your choice."

Draco looked at the toad being held harmlessly in Jade's hands, and then at the werecat glaring up at him with her crimson eyes. He gulped. "Um… I'll take the toad, I think."

Jade smirked. "Thought so." She handed over the toad, picked up Solluna, and they left the compartment.

When they returned the toad, Neville was so grateful that he was in tears. Draco looked to be about to make some smart-aleck comment, but was stopped when Jade trod hard on his foot, then gave him an innocent look. He offered to go ahead and walk her back to her own compartment.

As they walked, they talked about multiple things. One of these things was school houses, and which ones they'd prefer to be in.

"I'll be in Slytherin, of course," Draco said with a grin. "Just like my mother, my father, my grandfather, and so on."

"Hmm…" Jade tapped her chin. "I'm not that worried, 'cause I know they'll probably put me in the house best suited to me, but I'm thinking that I'd probably do well in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, you know?"

"Yeah, you'd be good in either one of those houses. I'd be glad to have you in Slytherin."

As they talked some more, of their hobbies and stuff, Jade learned that one of Draco's favorite things were Quidditch. When she heard this, a thought occurred to Jade. She grinned and set Solluna down for the moment. "Watch this, Draco."

She tapped the choker fastened now around her neck three times, watching as it transformed once more into a Snitch and fluttered around both of their heads. Grinning at Draco's look of surprise, she said, "Shadari!" It returned to land limply in her palm, once more a necklace which she promptly fastened back around her neck.

"Wow! Where'd you get that?"

Jade smiled innocently, picking Solluna up once more. "It was a birthday gift. It's the first wizard gift I've ever received."

When Draco asked about her hobbies, Jade thoughts for a moment… she couldn't really say that she liked working on the computer, since he probably wouldn't know what that was… she ended up telling him that she liked reading, writing, and practicing martial arts. Turned out he didn't know what martial arts was, either.

Jade searched for a way to explain it. "It's sort of a form of fighting using your body, but it's also about inner balance, and stuff like that."

Draco snorted. "Hmph. Muggle fighting. It's so… primitive. Wizards don't need that; they fight with wands."

At this, Jade smirked grimly. "I'd like to hear you say that when you can't get to your wand for some reason."

About then, they reached Jade's compartment. "This is my stop," she said. She poked her head inside, and Ron looked up, looking to be glad that she was back. "Hey Ron, have you met my companion, Draco Malfoy?"

The glad look faded off Ron's face as Draco came into the compartment, too, as Jade settled back down into her seat. Draco sneered at Ron. "No need for her to tell me your name. Red hair, hand me down clothes… My father told me of your family. From what he says, all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children then they can afford."

Jade looked from Draco's sneering face, then to Ron, who was turning steadily pink, and then back at Draco again. She frowned and shook her head, then stood, ushering Draco out as she spoke. "If you're going to say rude stuff, Malfoy, then don't speak. It's distasteful and it definitely doesn't become you." With this, she closed the compartment door in Draco's surprised face before he could say a word.

There was silence as Jade pulled out her school robes and slipped them on over her clothes, knowing they'd be arriving soon.

"You didn't have to do that," Ron muttered, looking embarrassed.

Jade shrugged. "It was no biggy. I won't tolerate rudeness, especially when it's to one of my friends."

Ron looked surprised. "One of your… friends?"

Now it was Jade's turn to look surprised. "Of course. Unless, of course, you don't want to be."

Before Ron could answer, Hermione Granger came back in and sat by Jade. She looked at Ron. "You'd better hurry and get changed soon, it's not long until we arrive. I asked the conduc-"

Before she could finish, the compartment door opened yet again and two girls entered, a normal-sized one and a tall one who was built more like a boy. The normal sized one had black hair done in pigtails and dark eyes, and she had a pug face. The girl looked curiously and a bit snobbishly at Jade.

"We heard the Potter girl was in here… everyone's talking about her," was what she said. Her squinted eyes fell on Jade. "You're her, aren't you?"

Jade could feel a headache coming on. Why couldn't everyone just leave her alone? She sighed. "Yeah, that's me. And you are?"

"I'm Pansy Parkinson," the girl said, then gestured to the hulking girl-that-looked-way-too-masculine behind her. "And this is Millicent Bulstrode." She surveyed the other two occupants of the compartment, and made a disgusted face. She looked at Jade with pity. "Poor girl. You must have had nowhere else to sit, huh? No one would choose to sit with people like this… why don't you come up and hang out at my compartment until we get to Hogwarts? I'm sure we can make room for you."

"No," said Jade, feeling annoyed. "I chose to sit here. What's wrong with that?"

"Oh!" said Pansy, and she laughed. "I'd heard you were Muggle-raised, but I didn't know it was true. I'll forgive you because you obviously don't know that it's bad form to be seen hanging around with certain people."

Jade didn't like where this was going. "Certain people?"

"Oh, you know, Muggle-borns and families that have no class, like the Weasleys. Tell you what, I'll help you make some worthwhile friends. If you play your cards right, I may even be one of them." Both Hermione and Ron looked outraged at this, but Jade held up her hand to stop them from saying anything.

She took a deep breath. She didn't like this girl. She really did not like this girl. "Listen, Parkinson, I don't need to be shown which friends are worthwhile. I consider myself a good judge of character. These two would be worthwhile friends. You, however, would not. Please return to your own compartment."

Pansy puffed up, offended and looking more like a pug-nosed dog than ever. "And what if we don't feel like leaving?" Beside her, Millicent crossed her arms, looking intimidating. Jade wasn't intimidated. She nudged the resting werecat on the back of her seat gently with the back of her head, and Solluna leapt down gracefully to sit in Jade's lap. She stared at the two intruders, and Jade smiled innocently.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce you to this friend of mine… her name's Solluna, and she says that you're disturbing her rest."

Solluna kept staring, looking intimidating with her tail flicking and her long main teeth curving over her jaw. Pansy let out an eep and made a quick retreat, but not without shooting Jade an extremely nasty look. Millicent followed.

After that, Hermione shot Jade a grateful look, then turned to Ron. "Aren't you going to change into your robes?"

Ron looked annoyed. "Aren't you going to go back to your own compartment?"

"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione huffily. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

Ron glared at her as she left.

Not long after that, they arrived at their destination. Leaving their luggage on the train as instructed, everyone made their way out to stand on a tiny, dark platform. Jade shivered slightly from the cold and hoisted the backpack containing Solluna more securely onto her shoulder; the werecat had outright refused to be left with the luggage like any common pet or familiar. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Jade heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Made it all right, Jade?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Everyone followed Hagrid, and Jade quickly lost Ron as she moved along in the crowd, trying to keep on her feet as they all made their way down a steep, narrow path.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his massive shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

When they rounded the said bend, Jade gave a sharp intake of breath. Solluna poked her head out, concerned. Is something the matter?

Jade shook her head in answer, her eyes having a sort of glazed look about them. "No, it's just that… I've never seen anything so beautiful! I can't believe that's where I'll be living and learning for the next seven years… I'm gonna have to take a picture to show Dudley," she giggled slightly, a bratty look on her face, "he'll be so jealous when he sees. My school… is a castle! Wow!"

Solluna rolled her eyes in a rather human-like gesture. Humans, how easily you are amused. She slipped her head back into the knapsack.

Whether Solluna acknowledged it or not, the view was breathtaking. Before their eyes was a great lake, its dark waters reflecting the starry night overhead. On the opposite side of the lake was a high mountain, upon which was a huge castle with more turrets and towers than Jade's dazzled eyes could count.

It was amazing.

They all made their ways down to a fleet of boats waiting at the shore. Jade ended up sharing a boat with the boy who kept losing his toad, Neville Longbottom, along with Hermione Granger and a girl with short-cut strawberry-blonde hair and aqua-colored eyes.

As the boats made their way to the other side of the river, the girl introduced herself. It turned out that she was an American recently moved to London, and that her name was Lisa Turpin.

As the boat made its way toward its destination, the three girls chatted whilst poor Neville nervously tried to keep hold of his toad, for fear that it would leap into the lake and be lost to him.

Hermione, Jade quickly found out, was as new to the Wizarding world as she was, but for a far different reason… Hermione had neither wizard mother nor wizard father; she was a Muggle-born. Hearing this, Jade had the distinct feeling that Draco would look down on Hermione for this.

As for Lisa, her parents had both went to Hogwarts as students. Lisa herself had been raised in America, but her family had moved back to London recently, as her parents wished her to go to Hogwarts, as well.

Lisa wanted to be in Ravenclaw, as her parents had been, but Hermione was quite undecided; she wanted to be in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw… she'd heard that Slytherins were quite nasty, and Hufflepuff was where leftovers went.

Jade was overjoyed when she found out that Hermione loved reading and learning as much as her, if not more, and she was quite fascinated with magic, already learning as much as she could from books about it.

The boats carried them through a hidden opening in the face of a cliff, and then through an underground tunnel that took them underneath the castle. Finally, they landed at a sort of underground harbor.

As Jade and the other three students stepped from the boat, Jade noticed something in the boat and rolled her eyes, picking it up. "Oy! Neville!"

"Huh?" The boy looked back, and Jade held up the toad, grinning. "I think this is yours."

"Trevor!" Neville took the toad from her and clutched the poor thing maybe a bit too tightly to his chest. "Quit running off!"

Jade, Hermione, and Lisa made their way with the other students up a long flight of stone steps, following Hagrid until they reached a huge, oaken door that they all crowded around.

Hagrid raised his meaty fist and knocked on the huge door three times, sounding out three resounding booms.

As the door opened, Jade felt the anticipation within mounting until it was almost unbearable…

What adventures awaited her in Hogwarts?

QS: Hey, all. I hope you like this chapter… I think it's the longest one I've had so far. It exceeds 7000 words. As you can see, I put a bunch in here that is completely original, as in not from the Harry Potter book. The creature, werecat, is not an original creature, I admit. Have any of you read Eragon? That's where I got the creature, though I may make a few alterations to its abilities here and there to suit my needs. Solluna, though, it original… and I'll tell you this: I had a heck of a time trying to figure out a good name for her. The werecat in Eragon is male and is named Solembum, I think. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter, but, even if you don't, PLEASE be sure and review! I love reviews!

If you can't picture how she looks, then if you've seen it, picture Kirara (big form) from Inuyasha, but smaller.

Oh, BTW, tell me… what's your fave part so far?